Budokan wo Nerae!
by KriegDiadem
Summary: The crowds, the lights, the energy - Budokan calls, and the girls of Houkago Tea Time hear its voice.  It is time for them to advance forward on their path from the small clubs of Kyoto to the hallowed Tokyo stadium.
1. Obscurity

A/N: The title to this fic is a rip-off of both _Aim for the Ace_ and _Aim for the Top_. Aim for Budokan! My intentions for this story is to make it kind of like a _Bakuman_-type shounen piece – the type of do-your-best, work-until-you-win type of ethic – combined with explorations on the nature of popularity, authenticity, perception, and human relations.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER I: Obscurity<strong>

The end of the semester had finally drawn to a close. Houkago Tea Time and OnNaGumi had met the day after exams ended at a popular café, a decision at least one of them already regretted, as a group of girls hovered nearby, whispering to each other and occasionally pointing at Mio. Akiyama Mio, the tall, beautiful bassist for Houkago Tea Time, always got far more attention than she desired. She slouched in her seat. If only she could redirect all the attention to someone who could appreciate it, like Yui, or Ritsu. She glanced at the two. Their mouths were covered with crumbs, the remains of a cake they had split between them.

Wada Akira, OnNaGumi's rather intimidating guitarist, took in the whole scene. The group of girls. The whispering. The slouching Mio. She could feel it coming. It would burst into her mind soon, a brilliant idea. She stared at Mio. Mio noticed her stare and tried to make herself even less noticeable. What a waste, Akira thought. Mio was so popular, without even trying. Popular…popular…and there it was. The idea:

"So," Akira said, as casually as possible, "I was thinking of putting together a show at the Hole in the Wall."

"Waah, the Hole in the Wall! How cool!" Mugi exclaimed.

"The Hole in the Wall? What's that?" Yui asked, eyeing the rest of Akira's cake. Akira wordlessly slid it over to the girl.

"Have you ever heard of CBGB?" Akira asked Yui, and she was not surprised when Yui shook her head. "The Ramones? Blondie? CBGB is where they really hit it big. The Hole in the Wall is kind of like the CBGB for Japanese all-girls bands."

"Oh! Didn't Fish Without a Bike get their start there?" Ritsu asked, suddenly sitting upright. "Their drummer is awesome!"

"But how are you going to get space there? I heard you have to sell 90% of your tickets in advance," Mio asked.

"You're right," Akira said, with an exaggerated sigh. "It'd be hard for us to sell so many tickets alone, right?" She discreetly nudged Ayame, who was thankfully quick on the uptake.

"Right! It's unfortunate. It's been a dream of mine to play at the Hole in the Wall, ever since I was a little girl…well ever since I was in high school, anyway."

"Not to be immodest," Sachi chimed in, "But it's not like we're unpopular around here. We could sell maybe 60% of the tickets. If only we could some way to find those other 30%."

The three OnNaGumi members eyed Mio, who began to get an uneasy feeling.

"If only," Akira continued, "We knew someone really popular who was also in a fairly popular band."

For a moment, everyone at the table fell silent. Mio shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Um, I don't think-"

"Oh, I get it!" Ritsu exclaimed, steamrolling right over whatever Mio was going to say. "What a great idea! We could get a lot of exposure, too!" She jumped off her chair and onto the table, carelessly sweeping dishes onto the floor. "The Hole in the Wall will be our first step on the way to our ultimate goal!" Ritsu pumped her fist in the air. "The big city! The big stadium! We're aiming for Budokan!"

To Akira's great dismay Ritsu hauled her onto the table as well. "Houkago Tea Time and OnNaGumi, we'll hit the charts at number one!" The next person to get hauled onto the table was Mio, who looked overwhelmed. "Hey, everyone!" Ritsu hollered, though everyone in the café was already looking over at their table. "Akiyama Mio has an announcement to make!"

"What!" Mio squeaked. No one in the café spoke a word, not even the barista, who had been watching the whole display with mild interest and annoyance. "Ritsu!" Mio hissed. She glanced at her seemingly ever-present fanclub and quickly glanced away, their adoring expressions too much to handle. Instead she turned her gaze to OnNaGumi and Houkago Tea Time's band members, all of who looked at her with such hopeful expressions that she finally realized –

She had no real choice.

"Ahem, excuse me, everyone. Sorry for the disruption. I have an announcement to make. Houkago Tea Time and OnNaGumi will be playing a show at the Hole in the Wall. The date and time are currently undetermined. We…we hope that you will all attend. Thank you."

She stepped down from the table and fled from the café. Ritsu followed after her, leaving Akira standing on the table. After a few more moments of silence, the café's denizens returned to their conversations.

"Well, I think that went well," Akira said, clambering down from the table.

"I think so too!" Mugi said, clasping her hands together and jumping slightly in place. "I'll contact the Hole in the Wall's manager right away!"

"Great! When you confirm a time and date let me know and we'll print out-" She was interrupted mid-sentence by a heavy hand landing on her shoulder. She turned to find herself face-to-face with the café's manager.

"You," he said, "And all your little friends. Are now banned from this café."

Ugh. Well, Akira thought, as she exited the café, that was the price of making deals with Tainaka Ritsu. Wait. Why had Houkago Tea Time even elected such an undependable president?

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><p>AN2: I am ridiculously busy with school and work. So I am giving a fair warning: updates will be short and sporadic.


	2. When a Vision Intervenes in an Image

A/N: Thank you for your review, **Musician74**! You are right, I could certainly be a lot clearer about what direction I want to take this in. I'm not suited to writing happy fics so you can expect a lot of conflict, drama, and maybe some romance? I also foresee this fic getting quite long…

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><p><strong>CHAPTER II: When a Vision Intervenes in an Image<strong>

A brick building stood in one of the seedier parts of town. The sign above the front door read "Jack's Record Store" but a glance through the windows showed that there was nothing in the store but a dilapidated counter and a few broken-down shelves. A small white sign was stuck onto the door itself: CLOSED FOR BUSINESS. But noise still emanated from inside the building. An alley littered with old cardboard boxes and faded newspapers led to the side door, a steel affair studded with bolts.

The Hole in the Wall lived up to its name admirably, Azusa thought, as she grasped the handle and swung the door open. She was the last to arrive. Her senpai were already milling about the club, setting up their equipment. Yui was fooling around with the microphone and Mio's bass resounded throughout the room, with Ritsu making adjustments to the amps. Mugi, meanwhile, was showing Sawako how to use her rather expensive-looking camera.

"No roadies yet, huh?" the manager asked, nudging the small girl. "Don't worry. I'm sure pretty girls like you will have fans soon enough."

"Manager-san!" Azusa bowed deeply. "I'm sorry we haven't met before. I was busy with exams…"

"Not to worry!"

Azusa smiled in relief, but her smile quickly froze in place as she took in the rest of her surroundings. The roof looked like it could cave in at any minute. The walls were painted a sickly gray, the type of gray that had once been white. And the floor…she nervously eyed a spot on the floor, a deep red stain about the size of a hand...

"This place is safe," the manager said, reading her obvious expression. "Besides, we hire more bouncers when we've got underage girls playing."

This failed to provide Azusa with any comfort, but it was all she would get as Ritsu and Yui bounded over to her and dragged her onto the stage.

"We're playing first, so we have to set the bar really high," Ritsu said gleefully. "We've got to blow the audience away! There'll be hundreds of people here and we're going to make sure every single one of them rocks out to our music! Are you ready, Azu-nyan?"

"Yes, senpai!" she answered, taking her guitar out of its case. "Ah, Mio-senpai! Will you help with-"

"D-d-d-d-d-d-on't p-p-p-p-anic…" Mio stuttered, already covered in a light sheen of nervous sweat. She suddenly brightened up considerably. "Oh! What if nobody comes? They must have just bought the tickets out of…politeness!"

"Is that something people really do?" Mugi asked, climbing onto the stage and inadvertently crushing Mio's sole remaining hope. The answer as obvious.

"No, Kotobuki-sama, people who get tickets for shows here usually don't come only in case of emergencies. Our fans are very devoted," the manager answered. Azusa raised an eyebrow at the honorific, but the rest of the girls seemed used to it.

Azusa's brain raced as she observed Mio's hands tightening on poor Elizabeth. How to calm her down?

"Ah! Mugi-senpai, am I the only one left who has to do soundcheck?"

"Yes…you and Yui-chan!"

"Great! We'll get that done, then, and meanwhile, Mio-senpai, maybe you and Ritsu-senpai can do some rhythm practice!"

Ritsu's deathglare failed to faze the younger girl as Mio dragged Ritsu off the stage. Rhythm practice consisted of endless amounts of hand clapping, the perfectionist girl forcibly trying to imbue at least some sense of consistency to her more energetic friend. Every spare moment that the pair had together they spent clapping out beats. It got to the point where Ritsu actively avoided Mio, but Mio would stalk her, metronome in hand.

In practice Ritsu still set a too-high tempo, but at least her consistency was getting better.

Besides, Azusa thought, since they were opening, it would be better if they had a fast tempo. Her gaze swept across the room. She imagined it filled with revelers, drinks sloshing all over the place, dancing and hollering and cheering. A thrill rushed up her body and she broke out into a huge grin that did not go unnoticed by Mugi.

"I've played at a number of recitals," Mugi commented, her fingers idly drifting across the keyboard keys. "But I don't imagine this will be anything like a recital."

"No, I don't think so either," Azusa replied, fiddling with the tuning pegs on her guitar. "I've played with my parents at a few jazz houses, but that was so…laidback. Quiet. This'll be…"

She was interrupted by the sound of Yui's guitar screeching out from the amp, vibrating loudly across the room.

"Louder," she finished.

Soon enough Sawako called the girls into the change room, where Mio and RItsu still sat, Ritsu's clapping having turned utterly sloppy as she sank into a depressed lull. She brightened up considerably when the other girls entered the room, indicating that it was almost time.

"Let's see the outfits, Sawa-chan-sensei!"

"Drumroll, please!" Ritsu happily obliged, her drum sticks tapping against the nearest table. "I present to you…" She threw the closet door open and pulled out a rack of clothing, their outfits neatly labeled.

"Wow…they look like… a schoolgirl did a fusion dance with Alice in Wonderland and then joined a bondage club," Ritsu said, eyeing her outfit distrustfully. It looked a little too feminine for her taste.

Mio whimpered.

Mugi squealed and instantly rushed over to the rack, dazzled by all the pretty lace things she found there. "These are beautiful! Great job, sensei!"

"I think it's my best to date! Now come on," Sawako said, eyeing her watch, "You've got a half hour left until show time and it'll take you about that long to get all this on and fix your makeup."

"What's wrong with our makeup?" Yui asked.

In response, their former sensei pulled out several eyeliner pencils.

And sooner than they expected, they found themselves outfitted and waiting in the change rooms, all of them at least a little nervous. Mio glanced over herself in the mirror for the thousandth times. She wasn't usually quite _this_ concerned about her appearance, but…

She shook her head to clear it, and fixed her gaze on each of the rest of the girls, one by one. This was the first time she had actually seen Yui at all nervous, absentmindedly singing lyrics under her breath. Her look was much darker than usual, but nothing could mask her ever-present energy. Azusa, meanwhile, was fiddling with a guitar pick. She looked a little older thanks to all the eye makeup. Mugi looked the calmest of them all, her eyes closed, a soft smile on her face. Of course Mugi would be used to this kind of waiting after all the contests she had participated in.

Finally, Mio shifted her gaze to her childhood friend. RItsu's leg bounced up and down as she tapped her foot against the floor, as if tapping the pedal to her bass drum. Her headband was gone, her bangs covering part of her eyes. She swept them aside and met Mio's gaze. After a tense moment they both broke into nervous, sympathetic smiles.

And sooner than she had hoped, Sawako rushed them to the wings. Mio could hear her heart pound.

"…playing together since their first year of high school, the Hole in the Wall is happy to present to you – HOUKAGO TEA TIME!"

Mio stood frozen in place, until Ritsu softly pushed at her back, urging her onto the stage.

She took a step.

The stage lights hit her eyes, filling her vision with white.

She took another step, grabbed the microphone. She could hardly see the audience. They were cheering loudly, applauding, but eventually, the quieted down, and for a minute, they were absolutely silent.

Mio spared a moment to glance at the rest of the band.

Her eyes met Ritsu's, and she nodded. She watched just long enough to see Ritsu lift one of the sticks into the air before she turned back to face the audience.

Her hands found their positions. Her heart beat faster.

She heard the telltale triplets on the snare.

It was time.

"Please don't say you are lazy, _datte hontou wa_ crazy!"

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><p>AN2: At least I assume those triplets at the beginning of _Don't Say Lazy_ are played on the snare, though my drum knowledge is pretty abysmal so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.


	3. Dialectics

**Chapter III: Dialectics**

The feeling of elation that had gripped the band only intensified once they left the stage. They chose to stay in the wings and watched as OnNaGumi took the stage. Their classmates were talented musicians, and as the strains of a guitar riff erupted from the loudspeaker the Houkago TeaTime girls exchanged broad grins, each of them dancing in place to the music. The time flew by, and OnNaGumi finished their set with a quieter ballad, settling the mood to a more sedate kind of feeling.

The bartender declared last call as OnNaGumi and Houkago TeaTime began to pack up the stage, and an hour later they were ready to go their separate ways. Akira, Sachi, and Ayame accepted an invitation to an after-party, but Sawako forbid the Houkago TeaTime members from going.

"These girls aren't ready for that kind of stuff yet," Sawako said, ushering Yui, Ritsu, Mio and Mugi into her van.

"Not ready? It's just a little party," Akira teased.

"Trust me," Sawako said, with a small smile. She got into the driver's seat and her intuition was confirmed – the four were already fast asleep, and Ritsu was drooling on her newly-upholstered leather seat.

Azusa glided up beside the van on a small yellow moped.

"How cute," Sawako said, eyes taking in the sight of the girl, guitar slung across her back. "Will you be alright getting home? It's pretty late."

"I'll be fine, thank you, sensei. See you!" Azusa sped off.

X

Their winter break was over far too quickly. Class was once again in session and the two bands found that their popularity had increased to an almost alarming height. As various friends and classmates – and even a TA or two – congratulated and complimented them at every turn, the young women were left with one question on their minds:

Now what?

For Houkago TeaTime, it seemed too soon to put on another show.

"What do you think, prez?" Ritsu asked, staring at a poster that Ayame had shoved into her hands. Today was the last day to pay the second semester's club fees. Predictably, nearly everyone was at the clubroom that day.

"I guess it depends," the president replied, "Whether you've got any new material, what venue you're playing at, whether you're mentally or emotionally up for it…"

Clearly, OnNaGumi was up for it, as they had already booked another gig and were now passing out promotional material to all of the other bands.

"Actually, I'm a little disappointed that nothing came from our show at the Hole in the Wall," Sachi commented. "I was hoping there would be a major label exec there and they'd sign us. I guess my expectations were too high."

"That's why we've got to get more publicity!" Akira declared, looking determined. She turned to Ritsu. "Are you guys going to come to our show?"

"Definitely!" Ritsu clumsily folded the poster and shoved it into her coat pocket. "We've got to stay up-to-date with what our rivals are up to, after all!"

"What's this?" The club's president grinned. "Rivals? That's always exciting! OnNaGumi versus Houkago TeaTime! Who'll reach the top of the charts first?"

"Nobody is anybody's rival," Mio ground out, harshly pinching Ritsu's side.

"Well, since we're not rivals, then I guess it's okay for me to give you some advice," Sachi said. "From what I saw at the Hole in the Wall, your open palm muting…could use some work."

Mio froze, ignoring the pained whimpers coming from Ritsu. Her open palm muting could use some work? There was no way. She had spent months of practice focusing on just that. She knew her technique was good. But was it as good as Sachi's? She thought back to the show, but she could hardly remember any of it, she had been too caught up in the excitement. Maybe, in those dazzling moments when she thought she had been in the zone, she had actually messed up?

Her blood ran cold.

"Ah, as long as we're giving out advice, Mio, when you're singing, you're always a little bit sharp," Ayame added.

Mio only vaguely heard Yui and Ritsu interject in her defense. Her attention was instead focused on trying to remember how her voice had sounded when they played at the Hole in the Wall. It had been a little sharp, hadn't it? But then, she usually neglected her voice practice in favor of the bass, and now, it was coming back to bite her.

She couldn't stand for this!

She grabbed Mugi's hand. Mugi looked at her, surprised.

"Mio-chan?"

"Let's go, Mugi!"

"Ah, wait, Mio, Mugi!" Ritsu and Yui chased after them.

"I guess they really are your rivals now," the president commented, smiling broadly.

X

Mio dragged the rest of the band all the way to the music department on campus and ushered them through a door that had a small window cut into it and into a room that featured wooden flooring, bare walls, and most prominently, a piano standing in the middle.

"Ah, Mio-chan, aren't practice rooms only for music students?" Yui asked.

Mio ignored her comment. "I know what they were trying to do," Mio said. "Well, they asked for it, they've got it! We're going to be number one in all of Japan and OnNaGumi won't know what hit them! Mugi," she said, turning to face the confused blonde girl, "you and I are going to write an awesome song. And you two," Mio continued, and so commanding was the air around her that to Ritsu and Yui she gave the impression of having suddenly grown a meter taller, "Are going to go out and book us a gig! And don't bother coming back to the dorm until you've got one!"

Neither Ritsu nor Yui were quite sure whether or not Mio would actually execute her threat, but with Mugi's deceptive smile backing her and the thought that Akiyama Mio had a large number of adoring fans at her command, the two troublemakers decided they had better at least try their best.

"Yes, sir!" Ritsu said, saluting and beating a hasty exit, Yui hot on her heels. "Ah," she added, "If you're going to write an awesome song, you'd better practice hard so you can actually sing it properly." Ritsu escaped before Mio could catch her.

With a sigh, Mio turned back towards Mugi, who was already warming up with a few scales.

"I guess I might as well practice a few scales, since we're already here and all," Mio admitted. Mugi smiled serenely, played an "A", and listened carefully as Mio echoed it.

Mugi dreaded telling Mio, but…she was actually singing too _flat_.

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><p>AN: I don't know that the university's light music club's president has a name yet, so she gets to be "president" for now. Also, since I'm uploading such short chapters, I'll be aiming for one a week.


	4. Time of Redemption

A/N: Thanks for the review, **Musician74**! OnNaGumi will continue to feature prominently in this fic.

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><p><strong>Chapter IV: Time of Redemption<strong>

The man rolled his eyes. "I see dozens like you every day. The answer is no."

Ritsu and Yui exchanged a desperate look as yet another door slammed in their faces. It was the seventh time they had been rejected by an establishment's manager. They had thought that getting a gig would have been much easier than this, but despite their demo tapes and their show at the Hole in the Wall, it seemed like nothing could convince them.

"Hm, not bad," one had said, while listening to their demo tape, "But…I don't like taking my chances with newbies. Sorry girls, come back when you're more established."

"But we're kind of established!" Yui replied.

"Yeah," Ritsu said, "We played a sold-out show at the Hole in the Wall!"

"Beginner's luck," the manager said, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I've seen it happen before. People go check out a new band out of curiosity, but then that band fades into obscurity."

How exactly had Mugi gotten them the Hole in the Wall show in the first place? The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. Yui and Ritsu had spent the whole afternoon canvassing clubs, bars, and every other venue they could think of. As the sun finished setting the air grew colder. The girls drew their coats tighter around themselves.

Ritsu let out a sigh and watched as her breath condensed into a little cloud in front of her before disappearing into the night. If they couldn't book a gig, Mio wouldn't let them back into the dorm. And if they were stuck out here all night, surely, they would freeze to death, was Ritsu's logical conclusion. She glanced at Yui, who looked as unconcerned as always. Well, maybe Mio would let Yui back in, Ritsu conceded, and then she'd be on her own…

"Yui! You can't abandon me!" Ritsu said, grabbing her friend's arm and giving her a firm shake.

"Ricchan! I could never abandon you! Even if we freeze to death, we'll be together!"

Ritsu tried not to be too disturbed by how similar her thought processes were to Yui's and instead focused on coming up with ideas. Clearly, their "knock on a door and beg" strategy wasn't working. Her mind raced, coming up with one ridiculous idea after another and discarding them just as quickly. She could almost hear Mio's standard phrase in response to her stupid ideas – "Ritsu, you idiot!". Hmm…how had Mugi gotten them that gig?

X

Mugi had done it like this:

That day, after Mio had made the announcement at the café, Mugi had made her way to the Hole in the Wall. She stood outside the door and thought to herself for a moment, debating the best way to go about this. Well, if it was for her friends, she would use every tool she had.

She knocked at the door. A friendly-looking man answered.

"Hello! We're closed right now. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes," Mugi said, "May I please come in? There is something I would like to discuss with you."

This well-mannered young woman was a welcome change from his club's usual denizens, so the manager graciously let her in. Mugi took a seat at the bar while the manager poured her a glass of water.

"My name is Kotobuki Tsumugi," she said, with undue emphasis on her last name. The manager looked up, startled.

"Kotobuki?" he said. "You're-"

"Please," Mugi said, embarrassed. "I have a favor to ask of you. I am in a band – Houkago TeaTime – and friends with a few girls in another band – OnNaGumi."

"Ah, I've been to one of OnNaGumi's shows, they're not bad," the manager commented, "But Houkago TeaTime – never heard of them."

"Yes, well, we are rather new to the scene," Mugi admitted, "Which is why we'd like to make our debut with a splash. What better place than here, at the Hole in the Wall? We'd like to put on a show with OnNaGumi."

The manager looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "You think just because of your family name, I'm going to let total newbies headline a show here-"

Mugi stood up suddenly, making the stool she had been sitting on tip over and land on the floor with a resounding thud. She crossed her arms across her chest, her previous smile and ingratiating eyes replaced by a cold look that the manager had only seen on the gangsters that frequented his establishment. He gulped audibly and felt sweat starting to build at his forehead.

"No, I do _not_ think so, and I am offended by the implication," she said, in a very flat tone of voice. "However," she continued, "I am here to make an offer that you know I can back. I know your lower threshold of required ticket sales is 90%. Well, I will buy 100% of the tickets right now, and re-sell them at cost. I'll swallow the cost of anything we can't sell. A guaranteed sold-out show."

The manager was silent for a moment, considering the offer, before nodding. "Fine. I have two conditions, though."

"Yes?"

"First, you have to actually re-sell 90% of those tickets. I don't want this place to be empty on a Friday night. If you don't manage to, you'll have to pay an extra penalty for lost drinks sales."

Mugi nodded. That seemed fair.

"Second, I still can't have a band that sucks playing in my club! Got a demo tape with you?"

Mugi pulled out her iPod and handed it over to the manager.

A half hour of the manager listening to Houkago TeaTime and Mugi had sealed the deal. Mugi sighed as she exited the club a great deal poorer than when she had entered. She was down to her last thousand yen. She'd have to pick up a few more shifts at work…

After Mugi had handed over half of the tickets to OnNaGumi, they were suspicious enough to ask the right questions. Mugi confessed to the three girls what she had done and had made them promise to keep it a secret from Houkago TeaTime, who remained clueless.

x

So Ritsu, not knowing how Mugi had gotten them their first show, had to figure out her own strategy on how to get them a second show.

"I don't like to think of it as nepotism," Ritsu explained to Yui. "I like to think of it as…making use of our resources."

"What's nepotism?" Yui asked, but before Ritsu had a chance to explain, her cellphone rang. Ritsu quickly glanced at the display screen before answering.

"Asuza! Any news?"

"Yes, senpai! We're booked for Saturday night at Bethlehem."

Ritsu thanked the younger girl before hanging up. A friend of Asuza's parents owned a surprisingly popular bar named "Bethlehem" and she had managed to convince him to let them play there. Thanks to her efforts, Ritsu and Yui could finally return home – or to their dorm rooms, at least. A quick tour around the dorms led the girls to the conclusion that Mugi and Mio were not there.

"They must still be at the music department," Yui deduced, and the pair headed back to the music room. Mio and Mugi were indeed still in the music room, sitting side by side on the piano bench, diligently making markings onto sheets of blank staffs. Ritsu quickly strode over to the piano and grabbed the sheet with the percussion clef.

"Oh-ho, a new song already! Hmm, doesn't look half-bad!"

"Not half-bad?" Mio asked, incensed. She grabbed the sheet out from Ritsu's hands. "It's better than that! It's perfect! Anyway," she asked, replacing the sheet onto the rack, "Did you get us anything?"

"Yes!" Ritsu replied. She and Yui were beaming with pride and for a moment Mio couldn't help but mirror a smile back at them. "We got a show at Bethlehem Saturday night!"

"Wow!" Mio said, impressed, but the moment of surprise lasted just a moment before she realized something. "Wait! _This_ Saturday?"

"Yep!"

"Ritsu, you idiot! That's too soon!"

X

The girls of Houkago TeaTime spent the rest of the night in the music room, bouncing ideas for lyrics and melodies back and forth. Their senpai, friend, and Mio-stalker, Sokabe Megumi, popped in every once in a while with snacks and caffeine-laden drinks.

"You guys are so cute," she said, passing out coffee tetrapaks. "Your first all-nighter at university and it's not even for something school-related."

Mio did not want to know how Megumi knew they were there, nor did she want to know how Megumi knew it was their first all-nighter, but she had the deep suspicion that Ritsu might have been involved. In the end, Mio decided to forgive Ritsu, since without Megumi's deliveries, they likely wouldn't have been able to stay awake.

Now all that was left to do was to practice. Saturday was only five days away.

They had decided to take a quick nap before going to class, but their nap was cut short by an instructor storming into the room and kicking them out. Reluctantly they made their way to their respective classes.

The days flew by in a flurry of classes, work, and practice. There was one thing consistently missing from their practices, however – their second guitarist. They cheered when Azusa arrived Thursday evening, having been given permission by her parents to skip school on Friday in order to prepare for the show.

"How did your exams go, by the way?" Mugi asked. Mid-January was when high school students across Japan took exams that would determine their futures.

"I think they went alright," Azusa said. A vague answer, but there was no way to be sure how one did on exams until the results came out in early March. Strangely enough Azusa had opted not to apply to J Women's University. But to everyone's relief, she did set her sights on the two other universities located in the city. Privately, Mugi and Mio wondered why Azusa had not just asked for a recommendation. The girl had good grades and was a diligent student, and could have probably obtained one.

But Yui and Ritsu had no such concerns. For once, they actually seemed driven to practice.

"Here, Azu-nyan, I tuned your guitar," Yui said, holding out the Fender Mustang. "Let's play!"

Azusa was stunned. Had university instilled some kind of maturity into her formerly easily-distracted senpai?

"Then we can eat Mugi-chan's cakes!"

Nope.

In the end their all-nighter had yielded two new songs. One was written by Mio, a sickeningly sweet pop-rock song titled "Love and Chocolate". Ritsu had quickly made changes to the percussion and bass lines to give the song more substance. "Otherwise it would just be too…cute," she said. The other new song was written by Yui, titled "Together with You", with inspired "U&I"-like lyrics and a genius riff in the middle courtesy of Azusa's improvisation.

Their old repertoire was as solid as always. They were ready for Houkago TeaTime's second gig ever.

X

Bethlehem was one of those dark, smoky bars, geared towards young professionals looking to unwind after work. The girls exchanged nervous looks as they noticed all the office ladies in pencil skirts and salarymen with loosened collars. There were actually a number of their classmates and fellow students, notable in their casual clothes, who had come just to listen to HTT. But they were by far the minority. Would their music go over well with this older crowd?

There was only one way to find out, of course.

This time the stage lights were more muted and the band was able to actually see at least some of the crowd. They seemed to appreciate the music, crowding around the stage, tossing back drinks, the occasional cheer, applauding after each song. After their performance, a number of the working crowd gathered around the stage, waving to get the band's attention.

"We just wanted to say that you guys were great," said one young lady, clapping her hands together. "You reminded us of feeling young again. How old are you girls, anyway?"

The band members exchanged cautious looks, but opted to reveal their ages anyway.

"So cute!" The woman said. "Like babies. Hey, you should come with us, we're going to get some sushi at a 24/7 place."

"Sorry," Sawako said, striding onto the stage and interrupting their conversation. "I've got to get these girls home, they haven't slept in days."

"Ah, poor girls! Well, sleep well!"

The crowd dispersed. Ritsu gave Sawako a strange look.

"What was that all about?"

Sawako sighed. "To that woman and her friends, you would have been easy prey. Trust me."

"Easy prey?"

"I agree with your sensei, this time," Akira said, climbing onto the stage. She was followed by Sachi and Ayame. The Houkago TeaTime members exchanged glances and shrugged. They weren't especially driven to go party with a bunch of old people anyway, not that they would ever say that to the twenty-something Sawako…

Although that made two times when they were stopped from participating in after-parties. And that just wouldn't do for the band's image.

"Fine," Ritsu said, "But next time, you have to let us go."

Sawako sighed. She knew she was being a bit too overprotective of the girls – well, women, really, since most of them were adults already – but she couldn't help it. She really did feel almost like a mother – no, wait, she wasn't that old. She really did feel almost like an older sister to them. And she had had a number of less than positive experiences at the first few parties she had gone to.

She shrugged, trying to look casual. "I can't stop you from doing anything. But I would really appreciate it if you three would go with them," she said, addressing the OnNaGumi girls.

"What? We're not going to babysit them," Akira said flatly. But she was less than a year out of high school, and when a teacher gave her that look that all teachers seemed to have, somewhere between pleading and authoritative, she couldn't say no. "Fine," she said, giving in. Sachi and Ayame readily agreed, having no complaints.

"After our show next week, come with us," Akira said. "You three should be alright…but you two," she added, pointing to Mio and Azusa, "Stick close."

"What? Why?" Mio asked.

Akira didn't have the heart to tell her that they just screamed 'victim'. But Sachi had no problem doing so.

"It doesn't seem like anything would faze Yui-chan," Sachi said. "Ritsu-chan probably has a lot of experience getting out of trouble, and Mugi…" – Sachi remembered the time when Mugi had 'lightly' punched Akira – "Can definitely take care of herself. But you two just look so innocent. You are the easy prey."

Sachi thought that Mio and Azusa would look somewhat more devastated by this, but the two just had glum looks of acceptance on their faces. After being victimized by Sawako and harassed by Yui and Ritsu for years, there really was no arguing the fact.

* * *

><p>AN2: Looks like I'm incapable of keeping chapters short. The yen isn't as strong as it used to be, but an easy approximation is that 1 US dollar is 100 yen. Next chapter features sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll! Actually, only two of those. Guess which ones! I'm going to earn my T rating.


	5. The Human Condition of Plurality

AN1: **Siderial**, thank you! I'll be sure to look out for the "said" thing. Wholesome and uncorrupted? Hmm, well I can't see them doing anything bad _on purpose_. Yet. **Musician74**, thank you.

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><p><strong>Chapter V: The Human Condition of Plurality<strong>

The crowd broke out into wild applause as Akira, Sachi and Ayame walked onto the stage. Akira lifted her guitar and gingerly let the strap fall around her shoulder, feeling the comforting weight that anchored her to reality. She played a short riff, warming her fingers up and letting herself get used to the sounds of her guitar being emitted from the giant speakers that flanked the stage. The sound of scales being played on a bass guitar soon poured out from the speakers. Behind her, she could hear Ayame starting to warm up, hitting the bass drum a few times, the heavy thumping reverberating up her ribcage.

Thinking of Houkago TeaTime's shows, Akira often found herself wishing that there were more than three members in her band. She was envious of HTT's complicated harmonies and of the unique sound that their songs got from Mugi's keyboard effects. OnNaGumi, with no keyboard and no extra guitar, had to opt for more hard-hitting songs with more intricate individual parts.

Well, no matter. They had managed, just the three of them, a power trio, and people seemed to like their music. Anyway, whenever they really wanted to fill out their sound, they had a dizzying variety of equipment to choose from. Distortion pedals, several types of microphones, a drum machine…

But they would start with just the basics for their opening song. She strode up to the microphone and snatched it off the stand.

"I'm Wada Akira! Playing bass is Hayashi Sachi, and over there at the drums we've got Yoshida Ayame and we're OnNaGumi!"

The crowd erupted into loud cheers and whistles. Akira couldn't help but smile back at the enthusiastic crowd, but she quickly put on a serious face again.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Have we got a show for you tonight. But that's only if we think you can handle it. Are you all ready to rock?"

The crowd grew even louder than before, but it wasn't enough for Akira. She shook her head sadly. "Ayame. Sachi. I don't think these guys are ready to rock."

Her bandmates shook their heads. Despondently, Ayame hit the hi-hat once, its metallic sound ringing through the air. Sachi began to play a few scales, which slowly morphed into a bass line obviously familiar to the crowd as their applause and cheers intensified. It was the opening to one of their most popular songs, "This Angel Is a Demon from Hell".

"One last time!" Akira set the microphone back on its stand. "I said: Are you ready to rock?"

X

The Houkago TeaTime girls found themselves cheering at the top of their lungs along with the rest of the crowd as OnNaGumi's music fairly erupted from the speakers, their bombastic sound filling the room with a constant, buzzing kind of energy.

Ritsu, Mio, Mugi and Yui had already seen OnNaGumi practicing and knew they were good, but they had not had a chance to really observe the band playing live. At their combined show at the Hole in the Wall, the Houkago TeaTime girls had been far too entranced by the energy of the crowd and the music and far too swept up in the entire experience of their first show ever to really absorb exactly what kind of band OnNaGumi was.

But now that they were spectators, they paid close attention to their rivals. And they discovered what kind of band OnNaGumi was: an extraordinarily skilled one.

And all the girls were intimidatingly skilled at their instruments. Akira had been quite serious when, back in high school, she had told her jerk of a senpai that she would be judged by skill alone. Sachi and Ayame had obviously followed along with the declaration. With a degree of mortification Mio realized that her open-palm muting really _was_ inferior to Sachi's. Ayame's drumming was unerringly accurate and played complex patterns and strange time signatures with ease, and Akira's guitar playing featured both Yui's expressiveness and Azusa's technique.

It was, all in all, both amazing and disheartening.

OnNaGumi's image was also at a level above HTT's. They all looked so comfortable on stage. The connection between all of them was obvious, and they managed to grab and hold the audience's attention.

"They're just so…" Ritsu said, mesmerized and unable to complete her sentence.

"…cool!" Yui finished for her.

We're totally outclassed, Mio thought, regretting that she had accepted their challenge – or offer? – of rivalry. OnNaGumi's music was brimming with energy, wild but closely controlled all at once. It was just a little darker, just a little messier, just a little…better.

The show was over far too quickly. The OnNaGumi girls quickly packed up the stage and joined Houkago TeaTime on the club's dance floor. The club was slow to empty out; people were still milling around, ordering drinks, even though it was close to closing time.

"What did you think?" Akira asked, breathless.

The HTT girls exchanged glances. How else could they put it?

"Awesome!" they all said at once.

There was little chance for HTT to heap more effusive praise on OnNaGumi as their conversation was quickly interrupted by a few cool-looking guys who extended invitations to all the girls to join them at an after-party. Akira, Sachi, and Ayame quickly agreed and the whole group made their way toward a nearby apartment complex. It didn't look too shady, but there was loud music coming from nearly every apartment.

"Not a lot of older folk live here," one of the men commented, and the reason why was obvious as they climbed to the sixth floor, the staircase shaking the whole way due to the heavy bass blaring out of various music systems. They opened the door to apartment 6-5. It was so crowded that they had to rather impolitely push past people to make their way in.

And of course as soon as they had made their way in, Akira, Sachi, Ritsu, Yui, and Mugi had vanished, leaving Ayame with Mio and Azusa.

Ayame rolled her eyes. "Those two are so irresponsible. Well, at least you two are safe with me. C'mon, let's go." They made their way to the kitchen, and Ayame shoved red plastic cups in Mio and Azusa's hands. "I have the feeling I better start you guys off with the easy stuff."

Mio and Azusa exchanged looks of consternation after peering inside their cups to see amber liquid sloshing about.

"It won't kill you," Ayame said, "But it's up to you either way."

"What are they doing out there?" Mio asked, pointing towards the balcony. The glass door separating the balcony from the apartment proper was fogged up from both the cold air and a copious amount of smoke.

Ayame shook her head. "Weed. I wouldn't recommend it. If this party gets busted, it's not worth the prison time."

As they continued their aimless milling about, Azusa happened to catch a glance into a bedroom. There was a small group of people sitting in a circle.

"And what are they doing in there?" she asked, almost frightened to hear the answer.

"Well if they're not playing sketchy party games, then they're probably doing some harder drugs."

"What!" Azusa squeaked. Maybe it was time to get out of here, Azusa thought, but they were now far from the door and the path was blocked by crowds of people. All the smoking taking place inside the apartment was making her dizzy and somewhat giddy. Although out of nervousness she had been sipping beer from her cup the whole time, which probably didn't help.

"Ah, look, there's Sachi!" Ayame exclaimed. The tall girl was surrounded by a crowd of boys, but she looked entirely comfortable, laughing and engaged in lively conversation. A conversation about what? Neither Mio nor Azusa could imagine.

"Hey, Yoshida!" A boy sidled up to them. He looked a bit older, maybe in his early twenties. His hair was dyed blonde, he had several piercings in his ears, and a cigarette dangled from his mouth. "Your friends are really cute! You girls single?"

"Nope, they're definitely not," Ayame blithely lied. "Hey, you seen Akira?"

"Wada? No, but if you see her, tell her I'm _really really_ sorry about what happened-"

"Forget it, Ishida. She's never going to forgive you. Let's go, girls," Ayame said, dragging a befuddled Azusa and Mio behind her.

"What did he do?" Mio asked.

"Hmm, it would be better if Akira told you the story herself." Noticing that Mio and Azusa's cups were empty, Ayame guided them back towards the kitchen for refills.

X

When they entered the apartment Akira had immediately lost Mio and Azusa, and Sachi had somehow managed to slip away. Akira slapped her hand against her forehead. She was going to get told off by Ayame, that was for sure.

Oh well, nothing to do now but take care of the other three.

"Ah, shit, there's Koshirou!" Akira said, noticing that one of her least favorite people in the world was present at the party. She beckoned Yui, Ritsu, and Mugi to follow her. Where would Koshirou not look for her? The balcony. Koshirou already had one charge on his record. And if she and the HTT girls got caught, well…at times it was better to just take action and not think about the consequences.

"Who's Koshirou?" Yui asked, as she was ushered onto the balcony by Akira.

"Nobody," Akira answered, accepting a spliff that was offered to her. She took a drag and immediately felt better.

"You shouldn't smoke, Akira-chan," Mugi said, "It's bad for you. Why don't you use a vaporizer instead?"

Akira gave her an odd look. "How do you even know about this stuff?"

Mugi didn't answer her, mostly because she was hastily trying to stop Yui and Ritsu from eating the brownies that were being passed around. Too late; between them they had already gulped down almost half the plate.

"Stop, stop!" Akira grabbed the plate out of Yui and Ritsu's grasp and handed it off to some other random girl. Shit, shit, shit, shit if Ayame saw them high as kites she would never trust her with anything ever again – "These are special brownies, you idiots, have you never heard of them?"

"What?" Ritsu said, around a mouth full of chocolate that she immediately spat out. "I didn't know that!"

"We're surrounded by a bunch of stoners, why would you not suspect?"

"Special brownies?" Yui asked.

"There's weed baked into them. Ugh, let's get away from here. Sorry for the trouble guys," Akira added, apologizing to the others out on the balcony. Not that they really noticed, and if they had, they certainly wouldn't have cared.

X

By this point Azusa and Mio were stumbling, hardly able to stay upright. Mio noticed that the room was doing interesting things, like suddenly shifting so that she would lose her footing. Why would the room do that? It was probably just gravity taunting her yet again, like that time she got a 76 in Physics class. She glared at the floor and then draped her arm around Ayame's shoulders, seeking balance. She noticed someone slip in front of her. This guy was probably drunk, she thought. Unlike her.

"What an idiot," she said. Fortunately for her, the man who had slipped did not hear her as he struggled to get back to his feet.

"Mio-chan!" Ayame hissed. "Don't antagonize drunk people!"

Mio just laughed and waved her off. Oh no, Ayame thought. Perhaps she had overestimated their tolerance.

"Say, Mio-chan…have you ever had any alcohol before tonight?" Ayame asked, almost unwilling to hear the answer.

Mio thought carefully. Any thinking was hard at this point, but her important friend was asking her a question and she would try her hardest to answer it. She frowned. "Yes, a few times, with my parents, on special occasions."

Ayame cringed guiltily. She would not even bother asking Azusa, who was faring even worse than Mio. They had both had the same amount to drink, but Azusa was about half her size. She would probably pass out at any moment.

"Nakano-san, do you even know where you are?" Ayame asked.

"Hmm…no?"

"Do you even know _who_ you are?"

"Um…Akiyama Mio?"

"Excuse me," Mio said, "I'm pretty sure I'm Akiyama Mio. You're…Azu-nyan!"

"Nyan?"

"Exactly."

If Mugi were around, Ayame thought, she could probably lift both drunk girls and carry them out of here. Too bad she still couldn't find her. She did, however, catch sight of Yui, Ritsu, and Akira, on the other side of the room. Yui and Ritsu were laughing hysterically. Akira looked like she wanted to die. Ayame narrowed her eyes. She didn't…

Well, if those two were high, then it was definitely time to go. Who knew what they were capable of? She started to head towards them, Mio's arm around her shoulder, her hand holding onto Azusa's, but suddenly Mio's arm got heavy and she couldn't move forward. She turned to face the girl.

"Hey, Mio-chan, I need you to cooperate with me here. It's time for us to go."

"Go?" Mio asked, as if she could not understand the concept. "But I don't want to!"

"I know," Ayame said, "But we have to," she urged, noticing that more and more people were starting to pay attention to them.

"Nope. I'm not moving."

Ayame actually had extensive experience with children, having babysat her half-dozen nephews and nieces often over the years. She sighed. There was only one tried-and-true method to get children to do things they didn't want to. Bribery.

"Mio-chan, is there something – anything – in the world that you want?"

Mio thought carefully for a moment, and then nodded in the affirmative.

"Okay, I'll give it to you after we get out of here. But for us to get out of here, you'll have to move your feet."

Mio considered this new information for another long minute, before she shook her head. Ayame cursed under her breath. Why did Mio have to retain her smarts even while drunk?

"No. I want it now. Then we can go," Mio said.

Ayame gave in. "If I can get it for you now, I will. What is it that you want?"

"Well, I've been thinking about it for a long time. You know, sometimes, I feel a little bit lonely," Mio admitted, rather pathetically, "But I'm too shy to really do anything about it. And there are so many things out there, in this whole wide world, of which Japan is only a small part. And there's one thing I really want to experience," – Mio was making little sense at this point, but the next words out of her mouth were crystal clear – "I want a kiss!"

She supposed that she had no one to blame but herself for getting into this mess, but this was still something she really did not want to do. A number of boys noticed Ayame's hesitancy.

"I'll do it!"

"No, I will!"

There was no way Ayame was going to let these perverts kiss Mio.

"Let me!" Ayame's head jerked up at that last voice, and her gaze met Koshirou Ishida's.

"Ishida! Here, hold on to her," Ayame said, shoving the dazed Azusa towards him.

X

Wrapped in a stranger's arms Azusa watched in shock as Ayame grabbed her admired senpai by the shoulder, drew her closer in, and gently captured her lips with her own.

A cheer went up through the room.

At the other side of the room, close to the entrance, Mugi chose that moment to make her re-appearance.

"Akira- chan, I got the car-oh my."

The scene was not pretty. Akira was glaring daggers at Azusa and that Koshirou she had mentioned earlier. Ritsu was doing much the same, except her glare was directed toward Ayame and Mio.

"I'm sure it doesn't mean anything," Mugi said lamely, addressing both Akira and Ritsu, but neither seemed to care. They dashed out of the apartment.

Ayame broke the kiss and looked back towards the entrance. Akira and Ritsu had mysteriously disappeared but she was relieved to see Mugi there, looking totally un-intoxicated. Ayame grabbed Mio and Azusa's hands and dragged them toward the exit. The girls all exited the apartment building to find Akira and Ritsu sitting on the sidewalk's edge and strangely quiet.

"Where's Sachi?" Ayame asked, looking around.

"She texted me," Akira said, "She said she's going to a 'sleepover'."

No further questions needed to be asked as the girls piled into the van Mugi had procured (though where she had gotten it from, no one could fathom). On the drive back to the dorms Mugi in the driver's seat exchanged stupid jokes with Yui in the passenger's seat, but the rest of the girls stayed totally silent.

* * *

><p>AN2: Cultural notes on drugs in Japan: from my very reliable Google-fu research, I have determined that drugs in Japan are Serious Business, even the softer ones. It seems to be because of three things: 1) The culture of conformity (I'm always hesitant to make definitive culture-related statements, but this one seems pretty indisputable), where drug usage is looked down upon as a moral failure, rather than as part-moral failure, part-societal failure; 2) Japan is a small island, so there is not enough space to grow drugs domestically. It's hard to get drugs from immigrantsforeigners because of Japan's tight border controls, so drugs must be obtained from the Yakuza, a scary and unappealing prospect to most; and 3) The harsh prison sentences (though whether punishment actually works as deterrence seems iffy to me).

Japanese people therefore 1) Tend to use mushrooms (used to be legal if you claimed you did not know it was a hallucinogenic) and ecstasy (more easily manufactured, perhaps?) more than weed and the like and 2) Are more liberal regarding alcohol and nicotine abuse.

The kind of shame idols can be subjected to when caught with drugs is totally foreign to my Canadian mind, where certain drugs aren't too heavily prosecuted (because why go after the little fish?). Therefore I chose to position the girls' attitudes somewhere between the two in order to make the setting more familiar but still remain true to the cultural context. Also, I justify this based on two reasons: 1) Young people are, in most societies, more likely to be more permissive and 2) This is fiction!

ANYWAY. Ishida Koshirou is a male OC who Akira has a History with. He probably won't show up too often.


	6. Omnibus

AN1: Sorry for the missed update last week, everyone. Many of you probably know what university is like this time of year :( Thanks, **Siderial**. I can't believe you noticed he has the name of two Digimon characters! Not to worry, I don't think I could write anything like _Spiral_! I'll be aiming for a _Nana_-like feel. As far as length goes, 50k for sure, 100k is what I'm aiming for. This story is just getting started!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter VI: Omnibus<strong>

Ritsu came down from her high with brutal, disorienting speed. She could think lucidly again, but all she could think about was _that_ moment, and all she could do about was seethe, and she was not one to seethe quietly.

The anger emanating from Ritsu was impossible not to notice. Mugi whisked Azusa and Mio away to Mio's room, leaving Ritsu and Yui in Yui's room. Ritsu sat despondently on the bed, not really paying attention to Yui jabbering away about some faux philosophy. Instead, she thought about how earnest Mio's tone of voice was, when she was telling Ayame about her greatest wish, and how rarely that tone of voice was directed at her. One sentence kept playing over and over again in her mind:

_You know, sometimes, I feel a little bit lonely_.

Unconsciously, she clenched her fists tight. "How could she possibly feel lonely?" Ritsu asked, interrupting whatever Yui was saying. Yui had not even been facing Ritsu, but she suddenly stopped speaking and turned around to face the other girl.

"What do you mean?" Yui asked.

"I _mean_ that she has lots of friends, and we're always with her! So how could she be lonely?"

Yui considered this for a moment. "I think," she said, "That there's more than one way to be lonely."

Ritsu stared at her.

Yui took this as an invitation to expound on her statement. "You know, like there's Hemingway's 'alone in the crowd', or there's the existentialist view where you're born alone, you live alone, and you die alone, or where friends and family are great but you want someone just for yourself, or where you feel like no one understands you even if you have a lot of friends, or where you realize that it's impossible for any one person to understand another person completely, or the hedgehog's dilemma, or-"

"Stop, stop! Where are you getting all this from?"

"I've got a test for Child Psych class soon…"

Ritsu groaned and buried her head in her hands. Just great. Here she was expecting to be able to let off some steam, but of course Yui had chosen this moment to become suddenly an expert in all matters of human emotions.

"Well she shouldn't feel lonely," Ritsu spat out petulantly. "And if she does, she shouldn't turn to _Ayame_ of all people!"

Yui looked taken aback by this. "What's wrong with Ayame? She's a nice person. She kind of reminds me of you!"

And that was exactly the problem, but Ritsu would never admit it.

"It's because we left her alone during that party," Ritsu decided.

"But Azu-nyan was with her-"

"Azusa was drunk! That doesn't count. We left her alone and vulnerable with someone she's only known for a few months! We should've been there."

"I don't think that's it…"

"Nope, that's definitely it! From now on, we're not going to leave her alone for a moment!"

X

Mio had a nightmare. In her nightmare she dreamt that a giant vice was chasing after her. The vice kept getting closer and closer and Mio kept running and she realized that maybe she should take up exercising after all, since the vice quickly caught up to her. It settled itself around her head and starting compressing, and she thought her head would burst open at any moment and the pain made her feel nauseated.

She suddenly opened her eyes and light filled her vision as the sun shone into her room from the crack between the window curtains. She slammed her eyes shut again and felt that pain around her head. Either the nightmare had been real, or she had the worst headache of her life. She reached up and gingerly touched the side of her head. No vice.

"Mio-senpai?"

She opened her eyes again to find Azusa standing over her, a look of worry in her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

Her body told her that she had to empty the contents of her stomach, immediately, so she jumped out of bed and rushed to the washroom. Azusa ran in behind her. Mio was grateful; thanks to Azusa's help, her hair avoided any major damage.

"I feel awful." Stating the obvious was not something she was in the habit of doing, but it somehow made her feel a bit better in this particular situation. It helped her get a grasp of the most important question, namely: why was she feeling so terrible? She ignored the pain and put her brain to use, thinking hard, and finally vague memories from last night returned. But no matter how much she tried to remember, it seemed like past a certain point in the night everything got blurry.

She did, however, remember that Azusa had also imbibed quite a bit. Yet the girl standing next to her looked none the worse for wear. Meanwhile, she had gotten one glance of herself in the mirror, and vowed to herself never to get so drunk again.

"How are you feeling, Azusa-chan?" Mio asked.

Azusa shrugged. "Fine. No headache or anything."

Mio worked hard to stamp out the envy that flared up within her.

"Um, Mio-senpai, about last night…" Azusa hesitated for a moment, then seemed to find her resolve again, and plowed on: "How much do you remember?"

And when Mio answered, Azusa decided that she had better tell her senpai all that had happened. She described the events of the preceding night in what Mio thought was unnecessarily excruciating detail, and the more Azusa revealed, the greater the amount of dread that Mio felt, reaching its apex when she learned that she had had her first kiss last night.

Azusa finally noticed her senpai's gloomy expression. She hastily wrapped up the story, thanked Mio for letting her stay overnight, and then made an exit. Her parents were expecting her home at eight, and it was already nine. Mio watched from the window as Azusa sped away from the campus on her little moped, carefree as the wind. When she was finally out of sight, Mio made her way to the calendar on her bedroom wall – Twelve Months of Cakes and Pastries – and circled the previous day with a red marker. She grimaced. Her first kiss. She could feel no excitement over it, only relentless mortification. Her first kiss, and she could not remember it for the life of her. Her first kiss, which she could not remember, was with a _girl. _Her first kiss, which she could not remember, was with a girl, at a _random party, in front of dozens of random strangers_.

She sighed and threw herself onto her bed.

Whatever happened to romance? What happened to the delicate feelings buried deep within a maiden's pure heart?

Crushed. Crushed like that cracker sitting on the plate that suddenly materialized in front of her. Confused, she looked up to find Mugi standing beside her bed, a plate of crackers in one hand, a glass of water in the other. Gratefully, Mio took the offerings. She chewed thoughtfully on a cracker and watched Mugi in silence. Mugi broke eye contact and looked around the room until her eyes settled on the calendar, now marked with a large red circle. She turned back to Mio.

"Mio-chan…I kind of had the feeling that you wouldn't remember it, so I took a picture. I'll delete it, but would you like to see it first?"

"You don't have to delete it," Mio said. There were probably tons of pictures of it floating around the campus's gossip circles by now. Fortunately there was no class today, so she could hole herself up in the dorms, but she dreaded facing her classmates on Monday. She thought for a moment, and decided that she might as well see what all her classmates would be discussing. "Please let me see it." Mugi handed her phone over to Mio, who stared at it for a long moment. It was an almost out-of-body experience. Mio could see herself kissing Ayame, but she had no recollection of it. At least with this, she could kind of commemorate it. She emailed the picture to herself and handed the phone back to Mugi. "Thank you."

At that very moment the door flew open, slamming against the wall. Mio winced as that vice-like feeling around her head tightened. The matter wasn't improved when she saw who it was that had made such a dramatic entrance. Who else would it be? She glanced at the clock and raised her eyebrows in surprise. Even on a regular Sunday, those two wouldn't be up by 10AM. On the one hand, she was worried about them. Azusa had let her know that Yui and Ritsu had gotten high, and Mio wasn't sure about what kind of aftereffects that kind of thing had. It was suspicious that they had gotten up so early. On the other hand, her headache felt awful and at the moment the last thing she wanted to do was deal with the combined energies of Yui and Ritsu.

Before she could make up her mind as to whether to ask after their health or berate them, Yui spoke.

"Mio-chan! We came to see how you're doing."

Mio allowed herself a small smile, feeling touched. She should have known. They were her best friends, after all. "I have a headache but I'm feeling okay otherwise. How about you two, how are-" She cut her sentence short and watched with some consternation as Ritsu strode up to her wall calendar and ripped the month of January off. "Ritsu! What did you do that for?"

"There's only a week left in January," Ritsu replied, casually crumpling the page up. She tossed it and it landed neatly in the small garbage can beside Mio. "You'd probably forget to change the month once February comes, so I just did it for you early."

Lately, Mio had felt like she was constantly of two minds. This time, she was torn between attacking Ritsu and retrieving the calendar page. She opted to rescue January from the garbage can first, which gave Ritsu enough time to plant herself beside the bed and pull out her DS.

"Here, Mio, I know you're bad at this game so I played up to level 14 last night, you can start from here." Ritsu offered the console to Mio, but Mio pushed it aside.

"I have homework to do! Get out of here!"

"No." Ritsu powered up the DS and began playing. Mio grit her teeth. Thanks to her headache, she could barely take a step without feeling nauseated. Normally she could probably have physically kicked Ritsu out, but she would probably throw up again if she tried this time. She glanced at Mugi and Yui, silently pleading for help.

"Ricchan, Transforming Robots IV just came out, would you like to come watch it with me?"

"Some other time," Ritsu replied, seemingly intent on her game.

To Mio's surprise, Yui also tried to come to her rescue. "Ricchan, Fight Arena's midnight release is on Monday, if we start lining up now we could probably be the first to get it!"

"I already ordered it online."

"Fine, whatever," Mio said, annoyed. She moved to her desk and started pulling out various textbooks. "Ritsu, you can stay, if you turn the sound off on the DS and don't say a single word."

The surprises continued as Ritsu looked up from her game, lifted a finger to her lips, and nodded in a promise to stay silent.

X

Akira, Ayame, and Sachi had decided to go to sleep immediately after being dropped off at the dorms by Mugi. They decided to push off serious conversation until the next day, after they had slept off the effects of alcohol and could speak in a more clear-minded way.

At least that was what they were going for.

The three met at a coffee shop nearby. Ayame and Sachi were already seated at a table when Akira entered the store. She nodded at them before going up to the counter to order her drink. Out of the corner of her eye she watched them. They were leaning over a newspaper's crossword puzzle, agreeably discussing the clues. Akira thought the atmosphere would have been tenser, but she should have known better. These were her reliable friends, after all, and they had gone through thick and thin together. After obtaining her drink Akira approached Ayame and Sachi's table.

"A six-letter word for 'A person who cannot keep their promises and refuses to accept responsibility," Ayame said.

"Hmm…" Sachi pretended to be deep in thought for a moment. "You know, I just can't think of the right word for it."

"Well to me, that sounds like the definition of a FUCKUP!"

"Well that's too bad for you, because there's already an R in the first box."

Before Ayame could reply, Akira loudly drew her chair back, making it screech against the floor tiles. She sat down, ignoring the other customers' glares.

"Akira, how nice of you to join us, fifteen minutes late," Ayame said. "At least you're not flanked by drugged girls anymore."

"Ritsu and Yui had fun last night," Akira defended, "Besides, it was an accident! And at least they didn't spend the night fulfilling the start of every boy's wet dream."

"She asked for it!" As soon as the words left her mouth, Ayame realized just how terrible they sounded. "Uh, no, wait, I mean…well, there wasn't really any other way to make her move."

The three girls sat in silence for a moment.

"Anyway," Akira said, "At least you and I actually _had_ charges to look after." Her sidelong glance toward Sachi did not go unnoticed.

"How old are they, five? If you don't drop a child into the deep end, the child'll never learn to swim."

Images from last night flashed back into their minds. Ayame placed her elbows on the table and sank her face into her hands. Akira crossed her arms across her chest and looked away. Sachi drummed her fingers on the table.

Then they caught each other's gazes again and sighed all at once.

"We really screwed up," Ayame said. The other two girls nodded slightly.

"I wonder if they'll ever forgive us?" Akira asked.

"Well, all things considered," Sachi said cautiously, "Nobody died, nobody got assaulted and nobody did anything they would regret. Um, except for Mio," she finished, apologetically.

Ayame sighed. "I guess I should go talk to her. But, you should go talk to Ishida," she added, addressing Akira.

"I don't think that'll be necessary."

"Then what was up with that death-glare you gave poor Nakano-san?"

"Nothing at all. She didn't deserve that. It was just me being stupid."

Nobody needed to add the _again_.

"So," Akira continued, "I have an idea for how we can get them to forgive us. What are we doing for Valentine's Day? No, I didn't mean it like that! Are we going to play a show at the mall again?"

"Oh! The manager called me yesterday," Sachi said, "He invited us back."

"He invited us back?" Ayame asked, sounding utterly baffled. "But last year there was almost a riot."

"It was tough crowd," Sachi commented. "The manager invited us back because he thinks the whole debacle was 'interesting'."

The girls sat in silence for a moment, steeped in the memories of their last Valentine's Day show.

"Anyway," Akira said, clapping her hands together. "Since we don't have too many lovey-dovey songs fit for Valentine's Day, why don't we invite Houkago TeaTime to play with us? I'm sure we can convince the manager."

X

Ayame had been chosen as the delegate to offer Houkago TeaTime the invitation. "It'll provide you with the perfect opportunity to talk with Mio," Akira said, and with Sachi's ready agreement, Ayame had been outnumbered two-to-one.

And so she made her way to Mio's room. She peered into the open door of Mio's room and noticed that Ritsu was sitting against the bed, playing on a DS, while Mio was at her desk, diligently working away at something. Just as she had expected, she could kill two birds with one stone. She knocked at the door to announce her presence.

"Ricchan, Mio-chan, just the people I wanted to see," Ayame said. Mio looked up for a moment before turning back to face her desk, but it didn't help hide the obvious blush that reddened her face. Ritsu paused her game and nodded at Ayame, acknowledging her, but she didn't say a word. With a feeling of unease, Ayame decided to invite herself in. She plopped herself down on the bed.

"How can I help you?" Mio asked awkwardly, still facing the desk. Ayame allowed herself a little smile. Mio's embarrassment was too obvious, and she was being typically cute about it.

"I have some business with HTT's president," Ayame said. "Ricchan, I'm hoping you guys can help us out. We're going to be playing at the East mall on Valentine's Day. When we played there last year we got a lot of requests for love songs but, uh, we didn't really know all that many…so maybe you guys can join us."

Ritsu didn't reply, choosing instead to sit in silence and glare at Mio's back with an eerie intensity.

"You don't have to take everything so literally," Mio mumbled.

Ritsu took this as permission to speak. "Okay, we'll do it! Ah, wait – we can perform our own songs, but if we get requests…I don't really know that many popular love songs."

"I do," Mio interjected, finally turning around to face the two other girls. "Don't worry about it."

"Great," Ayame grinned. "I'll e-mail you the details once they're confirmed, Ricchan."

"Cool!"

A period of silence followed and Ayame began to feel the awkwardness build. Ritsu returned to her game. Mio slowly began to shift around in her chair to face the desk again, but Ayame interrupted before she could turn around completely.

"Ah, Mio-chan, I also have something I need to speak with you about." Obviously, Ayame thought, feeling a little foolish. Her gaze flickered to where Ritsu was sitting, and she nearly flinched when she noticed that Ritsu's eyes were fixed on her in a not very pleasant manner.

"I thought so," Mio said. She bit her lip for a moment, deep in thought, and then came to a decision. "Ritsu, get out."

"No way!" Ritsu tore her gaze away from Ayame and returned to her game.

"Come on, Ritsu!" Mio began to get annoyed and her headache was long gone. Now she could take decisive action. She stood up and took a few steps towards Ritsu. She already had a height advantage over the other girl. With Ritsu seated on the floor like that, Mio positively towered over her. "Get out."

"No." Ritsu seemed unconcerned by the threatening aura that began to fill the room. She continued to mash the buttons on the console. Mio allowed her to continue for a few moments, but she eventually got fed up and lunged towards the girl, arms outstretched, ready to grab her by the collar and throw her out.

"Ah, Mio-chan, it's fine," Ayame hastily said, stopping Mio mid-lunge. "We can meet some other time. How about this Friday at 7? We can meet at" – she suddenly thought better of it – "Uh, actually, I'll text you a meeting place and you can let me know if it sounds good. Okay?"

Mio nodded and Ayame beat a hasty retreat before she could be witness to any violence. Once she could no longer hear Ayame's footsteps echoing down the hallway, Mio whirled to face Ritsu.

"What was that? Why didn't you just leave?"

"I wasn't going to leave you alone with her," Ritsu replied. "Who knows what she would do!"

"Oh, come on! Really? She only did it because I didn't leave her any other choices." Mio sat back down on the chair and glanced at her desk. She had laid the January page out on her desk. Grabbing it and a tape dispenser she stood up and leaned toward the wall.

"No other choices, huh?" Ritsu set her DS aside yet again. "_You_ only acted that way because she let you get drunk! Don't put that page up."

"It's my own problem if I got drunk. And I'm putting this page up."

"She didn't have to steal your first kiss. I know you wanted it to be romantic."

That was true, Mio thought, but she wasn't about to admit it aloud. She stuck the calendar page to the wall and looked at her handiwork. Maybe she could get a printout of that photo Mugi took… "Maybe she could have found another way," she said, "But it's hard to think under pressure." That was a phenomenon Mio was quite familiar with.

"So now you're making excuses for her." Mio turned around in surprise, having never quite heard that tone of voice from Ritsu.

"Of course I am! She's a good person, she wouldn't do things like that without a reason. Ritsu, just _what_ is the problem?"

"You can't trust her!"

"Well I do trust her!"

"Forget it. You don't understand anything." Ritsu stood up and left the room, fuming, leaving behind an angry and confused Mio.

* * *

><p>AN2: If you're thinking "too many feelings, not enough music", then not to worry, the next installment will be much more balanced. If you're thinking "too much dialogue, not enough description", then you're totally right, and I'm sorry. I'll make up for it in the next chapter: More fallout from the party, Mio and Ayame's meeting, and the Valentine's Day concert.<p> 


	7. Not Just a River in Egypt

AN1: Remember everyone, the road to the OTP is long and winding.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter VII: Not Just a River in Egypt<strong>

So Ritsu had stormed out of her room.

So what.

It would be fine. They had argued so many times before that the whole process was getting a little tedious. Ritsu would not apologize, and then Mio would not apologize, and then they'd be friends again after maybe a day of resentment. That was how things always went, and always would go. The process was getting a little tedious, yes, but in its tedium there was the germ of comfort, the idea that there would always be a constant in her life.

So she didn't dwell on their argument. She had spent a few hours trying to decipher Ritsu's behavior and had come up with nothing. From her side, the whole episode seemed inexplicable. The other girls seemed to have an idea of what was wrong, but all they did was vaguely hint. With no help forthcoming and no idea of what was wrong arising, she decided not to let it bother her too much. Maybe Ritsu would actually say something about what was bothering her. Maybe she wouldn't.

What _did_ bother her was the whispers.

The whispers that had started to follow her everywhere.

It was a little unnerving. A glance to her left, and she would see two girls huddled around a cellphone, soft voices sounding scandalized about something. Then they would notice her looking, and they would hurriedly break apart and go their way. A glance to her right, and she would see two guys casually leaning against a wall, and when they noticed her looking they would exchange glances and slight smiles. Wait. What were these guys even doing on the J _Women_'s University campus?

She quickly made her way to class. When she arrived she made a beeline to the seat beside Sachi and slid her chair closer. Sachi slid her chair away.

"Sorry, Mio-chan," she said, "I don't want to give off the wrong signals."

"What!"

Sachi shrugged.

"Well how can I fix this?" Mio hissed.

"Hmm…make out with a guy in public?"

She was _not_ about to do that, but the stares were getting to be a bit much.

"It'll blow over in a week," Sachi assured her. Mio sure hoped so, because the rest of her day was rather…interesting. After their first class had ended, Sachi and Mio gathered up their things and left the room. They tried to leave the room, anyway, and though Sachi succeeded in making an exit, Mio had less luck. One of her fellow classmates had intercepted her right before she could leave and had asked her to stay behind. This classmate looked just like any other girl. Medium-length black hair, square glasses, average in height. Mio strained to remember her name. Nonoko…something?

The class was especially slow to empty out that day. Mio chanced a glance at her watch. In another five minutes she'd be late for her next class, all the way on the other side of campus. Finally, the class was empty.

"Um, Akiyama-san, I know it's strange to do this kind of thing after high school, but…" Then the girl bowed and offered up an envelope. "Please accept my confession."

This exact thing had happened throughout her high school years, too, especially right before she was about to graduate. Why did it always happen to her? She must be giving off some kind of special pheromone, she had decided. She had kept all of it quiet from the other girls, instead discreetly inquiring as to whether any of them had ever been confessed to.

Ritsu: Yes, once, by a random friend of her brother's.

Yui: Yes, once, by a boy in elementary school.

Azusa: Yes, a couple of times when she had gone out with friends and had to wait alone for too long.

Mugi: Yes, a number of times, by various boys.

All men or boys. Mio was the standout, then, having never been confessed to by a male even once.

She returned her mind to the present, realizing that the girl was still holding the envelope out in front of her.

"Uh, I'm really sorry. I can't accept."

Mio expected the girl to burst into tears or have some other kind of emotional outburst, but the girl straightened up and smiled.

"About as much as I expected, Akiyama-san," she said, "I had to give it a shot, though. Thank you for listening." The girl bowed once again before heading out, leaving Mio mulling over the experience. University girls really were something else, she thought, exiting the classroom. Sachi was leaning on the wall next to the doorframe.

"Thanks for waiting." Sachi nodded and linked arms with Mio as the two began to walk to their next class. "I thought you weren't going to get too close."

"I feel bad for you," Sachi said. "I have the feeling this kind of thing is going to keep happening. You'll never get to any class on time."

Her presence served as no real deterrent, though. After their second class of the day was over, another classmate asked Mio to stay behind. Sachi insisted on staying. The classmate agreed with a shrug. This girl had some traits that set her apart from the others, Mio thought. She had multiple ear piercings and a lip ring. How was it possible to kiss like that? Mio clamped down on her wandering thoughts and paid attention to the girl standing in front of her. She had no envelope in hand and wasn't bowing.

"I like you, Akiyama," the girl said. What was her name again? Rika…something. Her inability to remember her classmates' names was starting to get to her. Maybe she should expand her social circle, some day. "Go out with me."

"That's a good, clear-cut confession," Sachi commented, sitting on top of a desk nearby. "You should go out with her, Mio-chan."

Mio glared at the peanut gallery before turning her attention back to the girl. "I'm sorry. I can't accept your feelings."

The girl shrugged. "You ever change your mind, here's my number." She stuffed a piece of paper into Mio's hands and left Mio and Sachi alone in the classroom.

"Let's get going, Miss Popular, we're already late for our next class."

Mio sighed. "Why is it always girls?"

"Probably because the girls are less intimidated by you," Sachi noted. "You might be surprised by how shy guys can be."

"Shy?" Mio asked, a little astonished. Those men who were staring at them over there didn't look shy at all. She glared at them. They didn't even look away. "How so?"

"Maybe you won't admit it to yourself, but you're really pretty." Mio could feel herself blushing. Sachi smiled. "And almost too cute. The guys probably don't think they have a chance."

"Then, how can I make them think so?"

"Be slutty?"

Mio grimaced. That wasn't something she was about to do, either. Sachi rolled her eyes.

"You've been going to all-girls' schools for too long, Mio-chan. You should have fun while you're young."

The rest of the week continued in much the same vein. Her professors were starting to get annoyed by her tardiness, so she had to explain her situation to a number of them. It was rude to not even listen to someone's confession, after all. The professors she spoke with looked unconvinced.

It was a relief when Friday finally arrived. She hightailed it out of the classroom before anyone had a chance to stop her. Sachi was hot on her heels. When they arrived at the dorm they burst out into laughter. It had really been too much.

"I think you have the record for number of confessions turned down."

"Don't rub it in!"

The two parted ways and Mio's grin didn't falter as she made her way to her room. There was something else she was looking forward to, other than relief from innumerable confessions. This evening, she could finally sort out her feelings about what had happened.

X

Ayame looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyebrows arched critically as she realized that her top didn't quite match her jeans. She had been wearing this outfit for months and hadn't noticed that her shirt's shade was off just a tad. How embarrassing. She returned to her closet for the third time that evening, reached in and grabbed the nearest thing, a delicate, lacy white shirt on a plastic hanger. Too cold for that. A maxi skirt. Turned out she couldn't actually pull the look off. A black sweater vest. How nerdy could she get?

The clothes continued to pile up on her bed as she discarded one item after another. She finally settled on a large sweater, a miniskirt, and warm, fur-lined boots. She took another look at herself in the full-length mirror that adorned the wall next to the closet. Her outfit still wasn't _quite_ right. Gritting her teeth she moved towards the closet again but happened to catch a glance at the clock and realized that she had to leave immediately or risk being more than fifteen minutes late. After taking one last moment to make sure her hair was all in place, she rushed out of the dorm.

A little bell rung as she pushed open the door to a nearby café. She had indeed arrived a little late, and looking around she noticed that Mio was already at a table, hands around a mug. Steam rose from the liquid it contained, the white wisps dissipating in the air.

Ayame got herself a cup of green tea and made her way to the table, taking a seat across from Mio. The couches the café provided were quite comfortable, she felt like she could easily sink into it. Ayame's smile grew broader as she surveyed the table and noticed that Mio had also gotten a slice of chocolate cake. All of the Houkago TeaTime girls had an unbearable sweet tooth, how the girls stayed in shape, Ayame couldn't imagine.

Still it was comforting to see Mio eating and drinking like normal. Maybe this conversation wouldn't be so bad, Ayame thought.

"So," Ayame said, drawing the vowel out. "I wanted to discuss with you what happened at the party. Between you and me," she added, as if it needed any clarification.

Mio nodded, encouraging Ayame to continue. "Uh, well, first of all, I need to apologize. I probably could have gotten you to move some other way, but…I was a little drunk too. I wasn't thinking properly. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry," Mio said. "I imbibed too much and behaved inappropriately, putting you into an uncomfortable situation."

That sounded practiced, but Ayame let it go. "If we both agree that we're both at fault, then what's still bothering you?" It hadn't been hard to notice Mio's shifty eyes and stilted demeanor.

"The thing is…I got confessed to this week. Often."

Why was this a surprise? Mio and her friends were really oblivious to their own effortless attractiveness.

"Um, by girls."

Still not a surprise. The vibes that Mio gave off were almost unmistakable.

"And I _did_ ask you to k-kiss me…"

Ayame finally lost her temper. "Get to the point, Mio!"

"This doesn't make me a lesbian does it?" Mio blurted out. Ayame sighed as she heard the other patrons around her fall silent. It would be difficult to have this conversation with so many people listening in. She reached over the table, grabbed Mio's hands, and pulled her to her feet.

"Ayame-chan?"

They were out of the café before she could ask any more questions. The pair fell into silence, walking side by side until they reached a more crowded area, a plaza surrounded by retail stores. The people were bustling, loud, and would probably not fall into sudden silence any time soon. This was the place, Ayame decided.

She suddenly realized that she still had a deathgrip on Mio's hand. She let go. Her hand was gloved, but she still missed the extra warmth provided by Mio's own gloved hand. But now wasn't the time to think about that.

Now was the time to think about how she was going to answer Mio's question. Either Mio wasn't a lesbian and Ayame's gaydar had failed miserably (unlikely), or Mio was one and didn't know it (more likely). Neither answer, Ayame felt, would make Mio happy, so she opted for the unvarnished truth.

"The truth is, Mio-chan, you really give off that feeling. And as far as the kiss goes – well, it's natural to want to experiment at our age. But in the end, you are the only person who can tell whether or not you are one."

This answer quite obviously failed to satisfy Mio, if that grimace was any indication. Ayame cast about for something further to add, but couldn't think of anything. Finally, after long moments of silence, Mio spoke.

"Um, thank you for your honesty. Then, if it's not too much trouble, I was hoping you could help me with something."

In the winter cold Mio's cheeks, the tips of her ears, and the tip of her nose had gained a soft red tinge, contrasting with her porcelain skin and black hair. The dark sky had made her eyes dilate in the search for light, to the point where her dark blue irises were but edges surrounding her pupils. Mio's jacket and scarf overwhelmed her, making her body look small and delicate. And finally, that expression on her face – half pleading, half wary – and Ayame realized that Mio looked utterly entrancing and adorable at once. Her heart began to thump painfully against her rib cage. Her mouth felt dry.

"Anything," she found herself saying.

Ayame had been expecting something like this, but she still found herself surprised when Mio reached around her neck and pulled her close. She angled her head and her eyes fluttered closed as Mio's lips met her own.

They stayed like that for a long moment, and she could think of nothing but how soft Mio's lips felt.

And then they broke apart, both gasping for air and looking at each other, stunned.

"Umm thanks," Mio said, and she hastily departed, leaving Ayame to her own thoughts.

X

On February 14, the mall exploded in a horrendous, overwhelming, almost offensive cacophony of pink and red. Little white teddy bears holding hearts with sappy words on them decorated the cash registers in many of the stores. The air threatened to overwhelm the senses, suffused as it was with seductive perfume and the smell of chocolate. Couples everywhere were holding hands, or otherwise very publicly displaying their deep affection. Seemingly every girl held in her hands a fresh bouquet of roses or was decked out in new, glittery jewelry, mostly earrings and necklaces, but the occasional lucky one landing rings with massive diamonds on them.

To the girls of OnNaGumi, the whole thing was vaguely irritating.

A stage had been set up in the very center of the mall, and it was there that they found themselves, surveying everything around them from the high vantage point.

The blatant commercialization of a holiday supposedly dedicated to love reminded them too much of what their music risked if they were to ever get signed. One way or another they'd have to compromise their artistic vision, at least a little bit, to give their music more mass appeal. But how far would they have to go? Would their songs soon be the ones blaring out from the speaker systems of the various stores? Every store was playing something different, yet it all sounded exactly the same.

There were other girls on the stage with them. Houkago TeaTime and its five members were not at all bothered by Valentine's Day. While on found it all just a little bit too sappy, the others were quite happy to immerse themselves in the spirit of the day. They gorged on delicate chocolates and sung along to sappy love songs. Yui had bought one of the aforementioned teddy bears as a present for her sister. And whenever Mugi and Ritsu noticed a rejected guy or girl walking back, trying to stifle tears, they would surround the poor victim and do their best to comfort and encourage them. Their words were rarely actually comforting, but their energy was enough to cheer almost anyone up.

So distracted was everyone by the atmosphere that nobody noticed the shy glances exchanged between OnNaGumi's drummer and Houkago TeaTime's bassist.

Eventually the scheduled concert time grew near. The girls made final adjustments to their instruments and volume levels, and then watched as a crowd began to gather around the stage. The stage was a rickety wooden affair, featuring a curtained-off area that served as the backstage and a giant banner above the whole contraption that read:

THE EAST MALL MANAGEMENT PRESENTS: A VALENTINE'S DAY EXTRAVAGANZA! STARRING ONNAGUMI AND HOUKAGO TEATIME

A little much, maybe, but it seemed to catch people's attention. The crowd grew larger and larger and that was when Azusa noticed something strange.

First, the crowd was mostly made up of guys. Well, perhaps it wasn't that unusual. She wasn't really sure.

But the second thing was certainly strange. Many of these guys were holding tomatoes and other vegetables in their hands.

"Um…" Azusa said, unsure how to phrase her question. Akira noticed her hesitancy and followed her gaze.

"The vegetables are to throw at us," she said, in answer to Azusa's silent questions. Azusa looked at her incredulously.

"The vegetables are to throw at you?"

"That's right." Akira shrugged, as if it were obvious. "I mean, what else would they be for?"

"But why would they want to throw vegetables at you?" Ritsu asked, having overheard their conversation. "They haven't even heard you play."

"It's the same crowd as last year," Sachi noted, chiming in. "Our songs…they're not too lovey-dovey. They were fine with that. They were not so fine when we couldn't play a single one of the popular love songs they requested. I don't know why, but that really pissed them off!"

"So basically, they hate you!" Ritsu said. Akira and Sachi both nodded.

"If they hate you so much," Azusa asked slowly, "Then why are you playing again this year?"

Sachi smirked. "I think the manager just hates these guys. They just loiter around without ever actually buying anything. Hey, I think we're going on soon."

The manager was now standing on the stage, glaring at the crowd. As he announced OnNaGumi, the crowd remained eerily silent. The manager disappeared behind the curtains as the girls took their places.

Akira grabbed the microphone.

"We're OnNaGumi." She ducked as an eggplant went flying overhead. "Hey, come on, guys! Give us a chance! Our music rocks and you now it."

No more vegetables flew at them. Akira took this as a good sign and nodded at Ayame, who kicked up a beat.

"One, two, three, four!"

They launched into a song, their music so loud that the rickety stage shook. But the unsteady structure did not faze them. They continued playing on, at their usual high standard, drawing people out from the stores. The crowd swelled in size and they finally began to cheer and clap along, those who had been there the previous year even singing along to the choruses of a few of the songs.

Things were going perfectly.

Until they got to the end of their set.

Akira took the microphone of its stand. "Thanks, folks! We're OnNaGumi, and we'll be-"

She ducked again as a tomato came flying at her. "What was that for?" she demanded.

"Aren't you going to take requests?" one audience member asked, hollering from the back of the crowd.

Akira sighed. "Well, we _still_ don't really know any love songs, but if you want-"

And that's when the vegetables started flying towards the stage in full force, splattering against the floor and ineffectually smacking against the curtains at the back. The band members rushed to get off stage, quickly making their way to the curtained-off backstage.

"Hurry up and get on stage!" Akira told Houkago TeaTime. Four of them nodded, looking determined, but one was hesitant.

"Um, no. I don't think I want to perform anymore," Mio said. She peered around the curtain, her eyes fearfully fixed on the crowd. They had stopped throwing the vegetables, but they looked ready to start again at any moment.

"Oh for the love of-" Akira turned to face the other girls. "Why do you let her be like this? You must've performed dozens of times by now."

"It's the first time we've played such a…hostile crowd," Mugi noted, "And it's not like we haven't tried to cure her of this."

"But it's hopeless," Ritsu continued. "It's easier to just go with the flow. Anyway, people seem to like it. Watch."

The girls walked onto the stage, Yui dragging Mio behind her, planting her in front of one of the microphones before taking her spot a few feet beside her at the other mic.

Then the girls stood in silence for a moment. Yui cleared her throat. "Mio-chan," she whispered, but she forgot that she was standing right in front of the microphone. Her words rung through the hall. "Do the introductions!"

"M-me?" Mio asked. Yui nodded. "Ah…Alright then." She turned to face the audience head-on. "M-my name is Akiyama Mio. My bandmates are Hirasawa Yui on lead guitar, Nakanao Asuza on rhythm guitar, well, it's usually that way, but sometimes they switch…anyway, then there's Kotobuki Tsumugi on keyboards, and Tainaka Ritsu on drums. Um, thank you for listening. We hope you enjoy our songs. Oh! And we're Houkago TeaTime!"

What a horrible introduction, Akira thought, but just as Ritsu had predicted, the crowd was too taken aback by Mio's obviously awkward intro to start throwing vegetables. For the moment, they were safe, as Yui launched into an opening riff quickly backed by the other girls clapping out a beat that quickly gave way to instrumental parts for a moment. And then, Mio began to sing:

_Kimi wo miteru to itsu mo HAATO DOKI DOKI_

Akira, Sachi, and Ayame exchanged uneasy looks with each other. This was really veering into dangerously cute territory.

_Fuwa fuwa TAIMU fuwa fuwa TAIMU_

Oh dear…the three chanced a glance at the crowd, peering around the curtains that blocked off the wings. To their slight astonishment, the crowd looked utterly enthralled. The songs that followed were likewise embarrassingly sweet songs that they hadn't heard before, one called _U&I_, the other called, of all things, _My Love is a Stapler_.

Houkago TeaTime had played their coolest songs at the Hole in the Wall, and they were quite good. They had played a couple of these cute love songs at Bethlehem, but these three songs they had performed just now were really at another level. And Akira realized that this was Houkago TeaTime's true power. In the blink of an eye they could go from leather and metal studs to daisies and gingham dresses.

And then they got to the end of their set. Akira crossed her fingers as the same man asked the same question of Houkago TeaTime that he had of OnNaGumi.

"Yes, we will be taking requests!" Yui said. She pointed at random to an audience member. "You! Request something!"

"Ahh…" the woman she had pointed at looked at a loss for words. "Then how about…um…oh! Do you know that new song by that new young idol?"

Could there be a vaguer request? But to everyone's surprise, Mio nodded.

"I know it! The one they've been playing over and over again at Starbucks!" The woman nodded. "Okay!"

The rest of the band looked at her, baffled. They certainly did not know the song. How were they going to do this? Mio considered her options, then turned to Azusa.

"You can improvise, right?" she asked, covering the mic with one hand.

"I-I guess," Azusa replied. Mio nodded, then turned to Yui.

"When I finish the first verse, start your favorite blues progression." She turned to Ritsu. "Give me something in common time, but make it interesting!" Then to Mugi. "Uh, I trust you to add whatever you think is necessary to fill out the sound."

The three others exchanged brief, nervous looks, but nodded. Mio smiled. She knew she was asking a lot from them, to suddenly improvise a song they didn't know, but she could count on them to barrel forth confidently, even when it wasn't warranted.

She took a deep breath. Now she just had to muster up some nerve. She turned back towards the audience. Carefully considering the audience, she thought about why they would be so adamant on hearing their favorite love songs. It was making an assumption, but…

"This is dedicated to everyone who's ever felt lonely or broken hearted," she said, launching into a funky bass riff, letting her instrumental last long enough that Ritsu managed to figure out a good beat and join in. As she began to sing she heard Azusa's guitar join in, soaring high, while Yui joined in a bar later, her rhythm guitar driving the song forward. It sounded nothing like the song, but the lyrics and the familiar bass line seemed to convince the crowd enough that they began to clap and sing along. They were totally off-beat and off-tune and it almost threw Mio off, but the drumbeat from behind her remained steady and Yui's voice joining in beside her on the chorus helped her stay in tune.

And then Mugi added in the keyboard, giving the song Houkago TeaTime's trademark 60's sound, and Mio suddenly realized with a thrill that her band had made the song entirely their own. It was more interesting, the instrumentals were better, and, she thought a little immodestly, the vocals lent actual weight to the sappy song.

It was theirs! They had stolen it from that vapid idol.

As the song wound down into instrumentals Mio grinned broadly, feeling proud of their achievement.

"Alright, next request," Yui said. "You there!"

"How about _I Hate You Because You Love Me?_" the man said.

Mio looked to the rest of the band. They all shook their heads. She shrugged and lent toward the microphone. "Oh, uh, we don't know that one."

Then the vegetables started flying.

* * *

><p>AN2: Ah, irrationally hostile audiences. Something all bands must face at some point, I think.<p> 


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